


Into the woods

by chick_with_wifi



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, F/F, Fae & Fairies, Fairy Tale Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23230438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chick_with_wifi/pseuds/chick_with_wifi
Summary: All her life, Root has been warned about the faerie ring in the woods and how dangerous it is. Now she’s investigating it for herself.
Relationships: Root/Sameen Shaw
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	Into the woods

**Author's Note:**

> Tw for mentions of Hanna Frey's disappearance

It was the only time Root had ever made a mistake, and she was paying for it.

She had gotten overconfident and not covered her tracks as well as she should have, which meant the group of men she’d conned out of their entire bank accounts were coming after her.

So now she was running for her life through the streets of her tiny hometown in Texas while they chased after her, shouting and waving their arms. Part of her wanted to slow down and start a brawl, just to see if she could take them in a fight, but the rest of her realised how stupid that was when she was hopelessly outnumbered.

Instead she carried on running, out of breath and her feet slamming painfully onto the ground with every step. She hadn’t had a workout like this in a long time.

She risked a glance over her shoulder, nearly losing her footing, and saw that they were getting closer. It looked like there were more of them too, perhaps an angry group always drew more participants even if they didn’t know why the target was being pursued.

In her desperation to get away, Root had lost track of where she was and almost skidded to a stop when she reached the road that led out of town. Next to it was the woods. Perfect. Nobody would follow her there. 

She pushed herself to run even harder and kept going through a gap in the trees. The change was almost instantaneous. Behind her, the thundering sound of their running stopped and was replaced by grunts, presumably as they debated amongst themselves whether to follow her.

But inside the woods it was surprisingly peaceful. The thick leaves overhead lent a green tint to the light and the air felt crisp and fresh. Root was almost tempted to lay down and go to sleep right there. Maybe she would have, if her paranoia hadn’t convinced her to keep going. She was worried that if her pursuers could see her through the trees, they might be tempted to go after her.

As she walked, she expected to hear birds chirping but it was as silent as the grave. Overall, though, it wasn’t too bad. She didn’t know why everyone was so scared of this place. There weren't any spooky sounds or foreboding shadows.

Nobody else knew this, but she had actually come here once before as a kid. Just to investigate, see if the stories were true. She made it quite a way in before she’d heard her Mom calling her and had to leave, but she hadn’t been scared at all. It was only after her friend Hanna went into the woods and never came out again that she’d become wary of the place. 

Those memories were starting to resurface again as Root walked, until the sight of a circle of flowers drew her out of her reverie. The faerie ring. Inside it was a dark haired woman wearing a floaty white dress, who was facing away from her, and for a second Root’s heart rate skyrocketed thinking it might be Hanna. Then the woman turned around and Root realised it wasn’t her.

The woman looked Root up and down, clearly unimpressed. “What are you doing here?”

“Hiding from an angry mob. They wouldn’t follow me in here,” Root replied.

“That was smart of them.”

Curious, Root started to walk in a circle as she examined the ring of flowers. “I’m guessing this is the infamous faerie ring. Which would make you a faerie.”

“You don’t have to rub it in,” the woman grumbled. She was pivoting on the spot to remain facing Root as she walked.

Root raised an eyebrow. She was awfully grouchy for a faerie. “I’m Root. What’s your name?”

“Sameen.”

Root tried to hide her laugh, but instead it came out as more of a snort. 

Sameen narrowed her eyes. “What?”

“Nothing. I just expected you to have a more faerie-sounding name. Like Tinkerbell.”

Sameen rolled her eyes. “Ugh, don’t talk to me about Tinkerbell.”

Footsteps sounded behind her and Root spun around. Apparently the angry men were more courageous than she’d given them credit for and had decided to follow her after all. She cursed under her breath.

“Are these your friends?” Sameen asked.

Root nodded. Her thoughts immediately started racing, scanning for possible solutions and discarding any that wouldn't work. She remembered reading somewhere that if you ate food from a faerie ring you could never leave. That would do the trick.

“Do you have any food?” she said to Sameen.

In response, the faerie waved her hand and an apple appeared in it. The skin was shiny and bright red.

Root stepped into the ring to grab it and took a bite, ignoring Sameen’s protests of “no, Root, what are you -”, then chewed and swallowed as quickly as she could. 

Had it even worked? She didn’t feel any different. Until everything changed. It was like the world went into high-definition and she could see the lines on every leaf, hear her own ribs creaking as she breathed. She could feel the vibrations on the ground as the men approached, and watched as Sameen held a finger to her lips and knelt down. She took hold of the grass and pulled it up like it was a bedsheet, turning as she did, so that it billowed out and concealed both of them from the men.

Root barely dared to breathe as they walked past her and Sameen. They were just a few inches away and one even looked right at her, but it was like she didn't exist.

“She’s not here,” one said to the others. “Maybe she slipped out behind us.”

There was a general grumble of agreement and the one who had spoken led the way back out. They must have been afraid, to agree to leave so easily.

Sameen waited a moment then dropped the grass. She looked at Root, who noticed that she was in high-definition too. Every strand of her hair seemed to sparkle in the light, and her eyes shone with every shade of brown.

“I guess I’m a faerie now too,” Root said. “If I remember the lore correctly.”

“You’re an idiot is what you are.” Sameen lightly cuffed her on the side of the head. “Do you realise what you just did?”

“Yes, I saved my own life.”

"You committed yourself to spend the rest of your eternal life here. In this faerie ring."

Root shrugged. "That doesn't sound like such a bad bargain." She folded her arms and added quietly, "Trust me, there's nothing for me out there." She tried for a grin. "And I bet you could use the company."

Sameen looked at her, seemingly right into her soul, with her lips pressed together. After a moment her posture relaxed and she nodded, like she had found whatever she was looking for. "That's beside the point. What you did was reckless and stupid."

"If it's any consolation to you, I get told that a lot."

"Hm." Sameen sat on the ground and leant her back against a tree.

Root sat too and found the grass more comfortable than she was expecting. She drew one knee up to her chest and looked off into the trees. "You know, the people in the town talk about this place a lot.”

“I bet they do. People always spread rumours about what they don’t understand.”

“Parents tell their children, don’t go in the woods. It’s where the bogeyman lives. Don’t go near the faerie ring, you’ll get trapped there forever.”

“Doesn’t seem like you listened to that last one.”

Root smiled sadly, still gazing into the middle distance. “I didn’t believe them at first. Then I watched a friend of mine, Hanna, go into the woods. I should have stopped her, or told someone, but I was afraid of getting her into trouble. We were just kids, we thought we were invincible. Hanna always seemed like she knew what she was doing, so I trusted that she would be safe. But nobody ever saw her again.”

“How old were you?”

“I was twelve. Hanna was fourteen.”

“You weren’t even a teenager yet, nobody could blame you for what happened.”

Root turned back to Sameen, who was looking at her with that same intense expression. Somehow just hearing the words spoken aloud, that it wasn't her fault, lifted some of the weight from her shoulders. "You didn't ever...see her here, did you?"

Sameen shook her head. “No. I’ve been here for a long time and you’re the first person I’ve seen.”

Root nodded. That was the answer she'd been expecting. Then she took a breath and smiled. "So. What do you do for fun around here?"

“Not much.”

“I bet we can change that.”


End file.
